Former British rock star Gary Glitter, whose real name is Paul Gadd, returns home in central London on Sunday after he was arrested earlier in the day by British police as they investigate the mountain of sexual abuse allegations against the late TV star Jimmy Savile.

AFP/Getty Images

There's a new development in the British investigation into the allegations of child sex abuse against a late BBC television host: U.K. media, including the BBC, are reporting that police Sunday arrested rocker and convicted sex offender Gary Glitter on suspicion of sex offenses.

Glitter, born Paul Gadd, is the first person to be arrested in connection with the Jimmy Savile abuse inquiry. He was released on bail until mid-December after being questioned. Police did not identify the rocker by name, but he was named by the BBC and others.

My colleague Eyder wrote last week about the investigation into Savile, a beloved BBC personality who died last year. He's accused of abusing as many as 300 young people over four decades. Police who are investigating the allegations have described Savile as a "predatory sex offender."

Glitter is best known for the stadium rock anthem "Rock & Roll (Part 2)." He was convicted in Vietnam of child sex abuse in 2006.

"Sunday's arrest was the first in a widening scandal over Savile's alleged sex crimes, which started garnering attention earlier this month when a television documentary showed several women claiming that Savile abused them when they were teenagers. Hundreds of potential victims have since come forward to report similar claims to police against Savile, a much-loved children's TV presenter and disc jockey who died at the age of 84 last year.

"Most have alleged abuse by Savile, but some said they were abused by Savile and others. Most claimed they were assaulted in their early teens."

The allegations against Savile have rocked the BBC, the publicly funded broadcaster that's now under scrutiny. Among questions leveled against the BBC: Did it ignore Savile's crimes? Its leadership has had to answer those and other questions in front of Parliament.

"The BBC's reputation is on the line," Chris Patten, the chairman of the BBC Trust, wrote in The Mail on Sunday newspaper. "The BBC risks squandering public trust because one of its stars over three decades was apparently a sexual criminal ... and because others — BBC employees and hangers-on — may also have been involved."

Copyright 2012 National Public Radio. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.